Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Well, hello there stranger! Do you miss me? I must say that I do miss being able to blog more often, but it's been a whirlwind around here! If you read this post, you know that we're moving. It's quite an undertaking I must say! Having a child to move just adds so much more to it. We're trying to prepare as much as possible without "rocking his world" too much before it's necessary. He does know we're moving to a new place and a new "house", but I'm sure he doesn't quite understand what's really going to happen. With all the changes and craziness of packing, I wanted to take some some time one day to play with him. I wanted to do something special, and when I came across all the cardboard tubes I'd been saving up, I knew the perfect thing: a marble track! If you've been around for a while, you'll know that I'm a big fan of marble tracks (we made one here and here).

All we used was duct tape and cardboard tubes from toilet paper and paper towels. Simple.

I added some shoot off tracks toward the end for a little added fun. It was interesting to see which end the marble would come out of.

He played with it for days and days!

Oh, and just to prove the packing effort is moving along, I'd like to point out that box in the corner there. :-)

I'll be back at some point with more posts (hopefully before the move), and I promise things will be more consistent here in a few weeks when we get settled. We only have about a week and a half to go!

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

I'm co-hosting the Pinterest Power Party this week. Check it out and link up below. Be sure to visit all the other co-hosts too and make some new friends! On to the party!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Hey friends! It's Wednesday night and you know what that means! It's time for the weekly Pinterest Power Party!! This party is to focus on YOU - the readers! Do you have a DIY project, frugal gift idea, or delicious recipe you want to share? Well, we want to see them and share them on our Pinterest boards too!!

So, you're asking...

How do I participate? Easy!

Be a Pinterest Follower of the three hosts! We don't have any guest co-hosts this week, so we'd love for you to stop by the other hosts' blogs and say hello!

Let's party!!Help us spread the word by grabbing the above button and putting it on your blog! Then come back and link up your favorite projects, tips, and ideas! Also, please pin the two links before yours {and any others you like too!!}.

But wait, there's more!!Be sure to stop by next week and see if your link was featured! This week we're featuring some of the projects that grabbed our eye! If you're featured, be sure to grab a button and wear it proudly on your blog!

Would you like to co-host with us? We have openings in some of our upcoming parties for people who would like to join us! Just send an email to Chrissy (cmaetaylor@yahoo.com) to find out which dates are available!

Monday, April 8, 2013

Oh, how our lives have changed in the last week and a half or so! One unexpected phone call was the start of something new that we didn't see coming, but we're so excited about it now. Before I get to that phone call, though, I need to back up a little...Back in January we put our house on the market. It seemed it a good time for us to sell and buy something else with interest rates being so low. We prayed that it would sell if it was God's will. If it didn't sell, we accepted that God must want us to stay in this house.

Back in February, my husband applied for a new job. It would be great for him with a lot of opportunity for him to advance, AND it was work that he believes he would really enjoy. There's nothing like loving your job, you know? Again, we prayed that he would get the job if it was God's will.

Fast forward now to about a week and a half ago--the Friday before Easter, Good Friday. We were starting to wonder if our house was going to sell. We had had several showings and some interest but nothing too concrete. Then on that Good Friday, we received a full price offer on our house, and we are closing April 26th! Thank you, Jesus! Now we needed to find a house to buy, but there really wasn't anything the the area we wanted. The day after we received the offer we had thought we found one, but it wouldn't work out after all. Maybe the house God had for us just wasn't on the market yet, so we made plans to stay with my parents after we closed on our house while hoping that something would come on the market.

Then on Tuesday of last week (April 2nd), my husband received that unexpected call I mentioned earlier. It was the company he applied with back in February. They wanted to interview him the very next day. He interviewed Wednesday and was offered a job right on the spot; it seemed that they had almost decided to hire him before he even interviewed! Since he hadn't heard back for so long, we had thought that maybe God had said "no" to that job, but it turns out it was a "not yet"!

Here's the part we didn't expect, though: the job they offered was in Denver and we live in Colorado Springs. For those of you not familiar, that's roughly 60-70 miles away. We were suddenly so thankful that we hadn't found a house yet! Thankful that what we thought could be THE house didn't work out after all.

So, instead of moving to a different part of Colorado Springs, we are moving 60ish miles away, but it is all working out perfectly (we even found somewhere to live yesterday). We certainly couldn't have planned it this well ourselves. Now we can see clearly that God's hand has been in this all along. From the timing with our house going under contract to us not being able to find a house to buy, God has been putting this plan together for us. The little pieces have been coming together, and we didn't even realize where they were pointing.

Yes, we are a little nervous to be moving from family and everything we've ever known since we were both born and raised in Colorado Springs, but we are also so excited! Now that we can see this part of God's plan for us and how clearly He has laid it out, we know there's something great in store for us. We can't wait to learn new places, make new friends, spend time with my sister and brother-in-law who already live up there, find a new church home, and learn what else God has planned for us!

Thursday, April 4, 2013

This week I've been enjoying being a co-host for Ginger Snap Crafts' link party in celebration of her 2 year anniversary. I must say, I've enjoyed it so much that I'm considering starting a link party of my own. It's sooo much fun!

Enough about me, though, let's move on to some features!

{please be sure to Pin from the original source and not from this post...thanks!}

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

I'm so excited to be one of many (over 40!) blogs co-hosting "{Wow Me} Wednesday" with Ginger Snap Crafts! It's Ginger's two year blog anniversary, and in celebration she opened up her link party for co-hosts. It can't even tell you how excited I am to be participating! Ginger's party is and has been one of my favorite link parties.

I'll be featuring some of the link ups throughout the week on Facebook, Google+, Twitter and will of course be pinning away on my Pinterest page too, so be sure to link up! The fun doesn't end there, though...I'll do a feature post Friday and Ginger will be doing a big feature post too (be sure to check out her blog for that!). It's going to be lots of fun so be sure to link up below!

Thanks to you for linking up and joining us for this awesome celebration, and thanks to Ginger for sharing her party. Happy Anniversary!

We're moving out of our house in a little less than four weeks! April was going to be a busy month anyway, so I think I should start with the packing this week. I'm not one to wait until the last minute on things like that. We haven't found another house to buy yet, though, so I'm thinking about what we should pack to put in storage, what we might what to have with us while we're staying at my parents, and what I can go ahead and start packing now that we don't use all that often...my mind is spinning, spinning, spinning!

While I wouldn't call this a storm compared to what some people go through, it does have me a little worked up, but after reading today's devotion at She Reads Truth, I realized that I need to take a deep breath and start my day right with praise to our God. This chorus from "Praise You In This Storm" by Casting Crowns has been going through my head:

"And I'll praise You in this storm and I will lift my hands

For You are who You are no matter where I am

And every tear I've cried You hold in Your hand

You've never left my side and though my heart is torn

I will praise you in this storm"

God is in control and has a plan.

I'm going to praise Him today and tackle all the projects one by one as I give Him praise!